The Perfect Crime

A black comedy presented in garish colors, Álex de la Iglesia's The Perfect Crime stars Guillermo Toledo (who resembles a Spanish Dennis Miller) as Rafael, a smugly suave, self-promoting ladies' man who heads up the women's department at a Madrid store. When Rafael, who hopes to become floor manager, accidentally kills his rival (a prissy, toupee-wearing men's department head), he's forced into an unwanted relationship with a homely salesgirl (Mónica Cervera) who witnessed the incident, leading him to devise the “perfect crime” in order to free himself. For much of its first hour, The Perfect Crime is delightfully cruel, marked by a cartoon sensibility and sharp pacing, but once the crime gambit begins in earnest, the film grows self-consciously clever, drifting into narrative confusion before reaching a coda that falls flat. But Toledo anchors the picture with such a fine performance—swinging from high energy to hangdog depression—and the director keeps things bubbling merrily for so long initially that the movie is still well worth watching. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Alex de la Iglesia and co-writer Jorge Guerricaechevarria, a 16-minute “making-of” featurette, and trailers. Bottom line: a small but solid extras package for a mostly winsome foreign film.] (F. Swietek)